


Sarabada

by Oro



Category: Saint Seiya
Genre: Friendship/Love, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-22
Updated: 2017-03-26
Packaged: 2018-10-09 08:14:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 3,381
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10407789
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Oro/pseuds/Oro
Summary: Mu and Kiki had lived a thoroughly secluded life in Jamir, until one night, Mu received an unexpected visit from an old friend.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: St. Seiya is copyright Kurumada Masami and Toei.

“Master Mu, there is someone at the door,” Kiki said, lifting his head from the book he had been perusing. “Someone who smells like roses.”

            Mu stopped slicing the daikon that would go into the bubbling soup on the fire. He frowned a little as he could not sense anything from where he stood.

            “That’s because you’re in the kitchen, Master Mu, smelling the steaming soup,” Kiki, misunderstanding his master’s thoughts, laughed, before swiftly sliding off his chair. “I’ll open the door for you.”

            “No, Kiki,” Mu stopped the child, rather brusquely. As Kiki looked at him questioningly, Mu dropped the daikon slices into the soup, wiped his hands, and then resumed his gentler tone, “You can prepare the table.”

            “For three?”

            Mu did not answer as he walked toward the door, catching a faint whiff of rose as he drew nearer.

            A strong gust of wind entered the room as Mu opened the door, and he stood face to face with a blond, blue-eyed man dressed in a thin tunic unsuitable for the harsh Tibetan weather. The man did not look cold, however.

            “Albiore.”

            The man smiled warmly. “How are you, Mu?”

            Mu stepped aside to let the man enter, looking slightly troubled.


	2. Chapter 2

Mu was still training to become the next Aries Saint when Albiore, having earned the silver Cepheus Cloth, arrived from Andromeda Island and resided temporarily at Sanctuary, waiting for his official assignment.  


            Mu had always been the centre of attention because of his special status as the Pope’s pupil. Those who envied him spread rumours that Mu became a candidate only because he was the Pope’s secret child.  


            “The child was too delicate to become a Saint,” they whispered maliciously. “He looks more like a girl.”  


            Indeed, no one had ever seen Mu demonstrating his skills, as he resided and trained in the Pope’s quarters, separate from the other trainees, and rarely ventured out.  


            Albiore, having just arrived from Andromeda Island to claim his silver Cloth, was curious to see Mu, but it was not until his second week at Sanctuary that he saw the special child.  


            He had wandered into the training ground near the Twelve Temples one balmy afternoon, when he caught sight of three children under a tree. It looked like one of them, a small child with lavender-coloured hair, was being cornered and taunted by the older two.  


            Albiore recognized the two bullies as Aphrodite and Mephisto, who had recently obtained the Pisces and Cancer Gold Cloth, respectively.  


            The child’s face looked calm despite the taunts. Suddenly Mephisto twisted his arms behind his back, and jeered cruelly, “Let’s inspect if this little Muvian is a real man and deserves the Aries Cloth.”  


            Aphrodite, laughing, moved closer. Albiore opened his mouth to shout, but he was distracted by hurried footsteps from behind. So did the other three.  


            When Albiore turned around, he saw Milo and Camus hurrying toward the Pope’s Chamber, but Milo slowed down and grinned, looking at the trio.  


            “Little Mu is getting into a scrape,” Milo said, smirking. “Should we interfere?”  


            Camus did not even bother looking. “Ça ne nous regarde pas,” he said flatly.  


            “What did you say?” Milo looked puzzled.  


            “We should better hurry,” Camus sounded impatient and kept walking quickly, so that Milo had to run to catch up with him.  


            “You, too, walk on,” Mephisto ordered Albiore languidly.  


            Albiore straightened his back. “Why don’t you check your friend instead?” he said calmly. “He looks more like a girl than the one you are holding.”  


            Mephisto looked at him open-mouthed, whereas Aphrodite let out an angry cry. Sensing his captors’ distraction, the child broke free and vanished into thin air.  


            The other three were startled, until several trainees strolled into the ground for afternoon practice. Aphrodite glared at Albiore.  


            “You’ll pay for this,” the Pisces Saint hissed, before motioning to Mephisto to follow him retreating.  


            That evening, as Albiore was sitting in his quarters’ inner courtyard, looking at the stars, he was startled once more by the sudden appearance of the lavender-haired child.  


            “Good evening, Albiore,” the child smiled. “I am Mu.”  


            “I know,” Albiore said, after having overcome his shock. “You are the next Aries Saint.”  


            “It has not been decided yet,” Mu shrugged his delicate shoulders. “Today, only Milo and Camus have been named Gold Saints.”  


            “Your time will come,” Albiore said, glad that Mu wanted to chat with him. “Not many Saints can teleport like you do. What are your other abilities? Do you have any attacks?”  


            Mu pondered for a while, and then, after a moment’s hesitation, told his new friend about his signature moves, Stardust Revolution and Starlight Extinction.  


            “They sound great! Why didn’t you fight Cancer and Pisces, then?”  


            Mu laughed. “I don’t like hurting weaker ones.”  


            Albiore laughed too.  


            From that moment on, Mu started to visit Albiore’s quarters. Once, Albiore mentioned his plan to become a teacher.  


            “I know exactly how I will teach,” Albiore beamed. “I won’t be easy with my students, but I will teach them everything I know. And I will be just, even to the weaker ones. Why, sometimes the weakest is the strongest at the end.”  


            Mu responded rather sombrely, “I do hope so. I know I’m stronger than some, but I also know that my master thinks I’m not strong enough.”  


            He sighed softly, remembering how Shion had reprimanded him again, severely as usual, for hesitating in executing his Starlight Extinction.  


            “What is it?” asked Albiore, sensing his friend’s troubles. Mu told him, his cheeks flushing as he remembered the harsh scolding.  


            “My master said that the time will come when my hesitancy may cost me my life; or worse, others’.”  


            Albiore put a comforting hand on his friend’s shoulder. “The Pope is surely a strict master,” he grinned, “but he would not put up this long with you if he did not see your potentials.   


            Albiore was right. Not long after his seventh birthday Mu was duly named the Aries Gold Saint, and moved into the Temple of the White Ram.  


            Albiore started to return Mu’s calls, but stuck to nocturnal visits, not only because Silver Saints were not expected to fraternize with their Gold superiors, but because, if Aldebaran of Taurus was also there to practice, the latter always scowled darkly at the Silver Saint each time Mu’s back was turned.  


            Shortly thereafter, the Pope began to change into a harsh tyrant, and Mu, his devoted pupil, left the Sanctuary without saying goodbye to anyone. Albiore, realising that Sanctuary would never be the same again, decided to return sooner to Andromeda Island.


	3. Chapter 3

“You’ve got yourself a lovely niche,” Albiore looked around, as if satisfied.

            The room, although not big, was indeed cosy and warm. The fire was blazing at the stove, where Kiki was tending the soup. A wooden table and chairs stood in the middle of the room, whereas Kiki’s cot and Mu’s narrow bed stood in opposite corners. The walls were lined with shelves of books, medicine, and herbs.

            “You’ve lived here for thirteen years?”

            “Yes,” Mu answered, somewhat absently, and then called for his pupil. “Come here, Kiki. Let me present you to my old friend, Albiore of Cepheus.”

            Kiki bounced energetically before the guest. “You are my master’s old friend? So you can tell me about Sanctuary.”

            “I’m afraid not. I left the place a few days after your master’s departure.”

            Mu was astonished. “Why?”

            “For the same reason as yours.”

            “You did not know my reason,” Mu replied, although not unkindly, and motioned to Kiki to resume his task.

            Albiore laughed. “The fact that Shion’s obedient pupil left Sanctuary without his permission was enough to show your disapproval of his new methods.”

            Mu did not reply. He looked sombre and for some reason did not share his friend’s mirth.

 

The evening proceeded calmly. The three sat down for a light supper, and Albiore told Mu about his own apprentice. The youngster had obtained the Andromeda Cloth and departed to Tokyo to join the Galaxian Tournament organized by the Graude Foundation.

            Mu let out a barely-audible sigh when Albiore mentioned the prize, the Sagittarius Cloth, and thought morosely of Aioros. Albiore did not notice and continued telling his story.

            Mu, shaking off Aioros from his mind, noted how proud Albiore was when talking about his pupil, Shun.

            “The head of the Foundation, a certain Saori Kido, has declared herself as Athena, and she has several Bronze Saints, including Shun, on her side,” Albiore said, as Kiki put a steaming soup bowl in front of him.

            “Do you think they stand a chance?” Mu asked.

            “I think they do. One should never underestimate the Bronze.”

            “I know,” Mu smiled faintly, thinking of Dragon Shiryu. “I’ve met one of them.”

            Albiore nodded. “So you see what I’m talking about. That’s why Sanctuary is calling all the Saints to join them against these so-called rebels. I guess they will not delay to summon you as well.”

            “Seeing that you are now here,” Mu said softly, ignoring the last remark, “it seems that you do not answer the call.”

            “I stayed on Andromeda Island, until…” Albiore’s voice faltered. “No, I’m departing for another place.”

            All three were silent for quite a while. Mu and Albiore were lost in their thoughts, while Kiki, sensing the slightly awkward atmosphere, ate in silence. Finally, having finished his supper (which he ate mechanically), Mu stood up to clear the table, addressing Kiki, “Go wash up for sleep, Child.”

            Kiki obeyed and disappeared into the back room. Mu, his handsome face creased with concern, turned to his guest.

            “Will you stay the night?”

            “If you don’t mind.”

            “I’m always glad to see an old friend,” Mu said, concealing his doubt. He had smelt the faint whiff of roses ever since Albiore arrived, and it unsettled him. There was something dark lurking beneath the fragrant smell.

            As Mu lifted Albiore’s bowl, he realized that his guest had not touched his meal. Lost in his own thoughts during supper, Mu had not noticed that Albiore was not eating.

            “I’m sorry we only had vegetables to offer,” Mu said without reproach, putting the dirty dishes in the kitchen. “Kiki and I are both vegetarians.”

            As Mu started to do the dishes, the scent of roses became stronger. He turned around and saw Albiore standing close behind him.

            “You have been acting coldly, Mu,” Albiore said, sounding rather sad.

 _Have I?_  Mu wondered. He tactfully changed the subject, while returning to his chores. “The place you’re going to…” he began, “Is it near Jamir?”

            “No, it’s very far from here.”

            Mu stopped washing. “Are you looking for something here?”

            Suddenly Mu felt a light touch on his hair. He had never been touched by anyone before, and the sensation, close to something warm, was alien to him, although not unpleasant.

            “I’m not going to return,” Albiore replied. “So here I am, taking my leave from a friend.”

            “Where are you going to?”    

            Before Albiore could answer, Kiki sauntered in.

            “I’ll dry the dishes, Master Mu,” the child offered with a twinkle in his eyes. “You and Master Albiore can get ready for bed.”

            Mu glared at his apprentice in a mixture of annoyance, desperation, and embarrassment, noting that in his own days as apprentice he would not have dared talking that way to Shion.

            Albiore laughed in a booming voice, which reminded Mu of Aldebaran’s. “I see you’ve been too kind to your pupil,” he said, as if reading Mu’s thoughts, and then looked sternly at Kiki, who giggled.

            Mu hurriedly went into the back room. He carefully cleaned himself for sleep, untied his glorious hair to brush, and changed into a loose tunic. Feeling somewhat shy to face Albiore after the brief intimacy in the kitchen, he deliberately took his time to finish the routine.


	4. Chapter 4

When Mu returned, he saw Kiki had already curled in his cot and snored lightly. The fire was out, and Albiore was sitting at the table in the dim room. The only lighting came from the burning candle on the night stand beside Mu’s bed.

            “I’m sorry I took a long time,” Mu said softly, as not to wake Kiki.

            “Mu, do you feel something different with me?”

            “Why should anything be different with you?” Mu was evasive, avoiding Albiore’s gaze.

            He could have asked about the thing that had been preoccupying his mind the whole evening, but he didn’t, as if unconsciously dreading the answer.

            “Like I said, you’ve been acting coldly, and only exchanging pleasantries with me,” Albiore looked at his old friend intently. “Look at me, Mu.”

            The emerald green eyes met the brilliant, honest blue orbs, and at that sight alone Mu cast all his doubts aside. He finally smiled at Albiore, whose gaze became relaxed.

            “We are not children anymore,” Mu said gently. “I suppose we must get used to it.”

            Albiore laughed softly. “You have certainly grown up, but you haven’t changed a single bit. Mu, I’m so fond of you I have made a long detour just to see you one more time in this wilderness.”

            Mu blushed slightly, not used to any kind of affection from a peer. “Do you want to wash up now?” he changed the subject again.

            “I think I should,” his guest said. “I feel rather exhausted.”

            Mu looked rather abashed as he said, “I’m afraid we have to share my bed, as I don’t have a guest room. The upper levels of this temple are inhabitable.”

            Albiore smiled. “I don’t mind it at the least. Do you?”

            Mu shook his head, and walked to his bed. He slipped under the blanket and turned to face the wall.

            Several minutes later, the candle suddenly went out. Mu decided that Albiore must have slipped noiselessly under the blanket, judging from the warmth he felt on his back. Soon he felt the warmth around his waist too.

            Mu, now comfortable, whispered sleepily, “I  _am_  happy you come to see me, Albiore.”

            “I’m not like you, bolting without saying goodbye,” Albiore whispered back in Mu’s ear, his tone teasing. He added more solemnly, “I can’t go before seeing you first.”

            “You speak as if we are not going to meet ever again,” Mu said gently. A sudden draught made him shiver a little.

            Albiore sighed, “Life is too short, Mu. I wish I had gone earlier to see you…”

            For the second time, Mu felt a light touch on the mass of his violet hair.

            “I was not aware you are such an affectionate person,” Mu said, struggling to keep his eyes open.

            “You are wise in many other things, but not in the matter of…,” Albiore caught himself short. “Has it ever occurred to you that Aldebaran too…”

            Again, he did not continue.

            “What about him?” Mu yawned.

            “Never mind. You will find out by yourself,” Albiore said softly. “Good night, my friend.”

            “Good night,” Mu replied without thinking, feeling drowsier by the minute.

            The scent of roses still clung heavily on Albiore, but Mu felt so much in peace at the moment that he decided not to talk anymore. There would always be time in the morning. “Sleep peacefully,” he added, steadily drifting into sleep.

            “I will,” Albiore replied; his voice had become even fainter.


	5. Chapter 5

When Mu woke up in the early hours, he felt emptiness reigned in the room. He turned around and noticed that Albiore was no longer there.

 _Is he up already?_  Mu wondered. Kiki was still snoring; his position had not changed.

            Somehow concerned, Mu decided not to return to sleep. As he washed his face and neck, he realized with a sudden relief that the rose fragrance had vanished.

             _Below the roses the dead lies._

            Mu gasped. Finally he remembered where he had smelt that particular rose scent.

 

It was right after young Mu witnessed atrocities at Sanctuary for the first time. Aioros – dependable, honest Aioros – was declared a traitor. Blood spilled freely in the days that followed.

            Mu could not believe that the order came from the Pope. He bolted through the twelve Temples to see his master for an explanation.

            While passing the intervening Temples, he unconsciously registered his comrades’ reactions.

            Aldebaran was distraught. Aiolia was understandably shaken with grief and anger. Shaka was meditating in his usual Lotus position, apparently (and maddeningly) oblivious to the turmoil at Sanctuary. Milo and Shura scowled but said nothing. Camus, cold as always, did not betray his feelings, and like his other comrades let Mu pass through without a word.

            The Temples of Gemini and Cancer, like Libra, were empty.

            Mu wondered with annoyance where Saga could have been. Being the oldest of the Saints, Saga’s authoritative presence would have meant a lot during the turmoil. It was unfortunate that he was away.

            Mephisto, on the other hand, was relishing the new authority he had been given, and was certainly patrolling again, hoping to catch more ‘traitors’.

            The Temple of Pisces was empty too. As Mu exited the Temple, however, he was almost overwhelmed by a carpet of intoxicating red roses.

            He was ready to destroy the poisonous flowers with Stardust Revolution, when a sudden realisation made him look up at the Pope’s Palace in shock. He could no longer feel his master’s presence up there.

            As he was standing sorrowfully, looking at the imposing palace just above the Temple of Pisces and digesting his master’s demise, Aphrodite showed up from behind a pillar. His fingers were twirling a full-bloomed white rose menacingly.

            “Looking for your old man?” the Pisces Saint jeered meaningfully, as if knowing something Mu did not.

 _Pisces, like Cancer, are the spawns of evil_ , a voice in Mu’s heart was telling him quietly.

            In his anger, Mu could have killed Aphrodite there and then, but he suppressed the violent urge, and in an instant teleported to Jamir.

            He could still hear Aphrodite’s mocking laugh in his ear as he arrived in front of the temple that would be his home for the next thirteen years. He leaned his beautiful head on the cold wall, and then wept silently.


	6. Chapter 6

It was his spirit all along. The warmth Mu had felt did not belong to the living, but to a fading cosmo.

            Standing before the water basin, he realised in bitterness that the rose fragrance had misled him too. Of course, such a dark smell could not belong to Albiore’s cosmo, but to the vicious thing that had tainted and killed him. Suddenly, his master’s words flashed through his mind.

             _The time will come when your hesitancy may cost you your life; or worse, others’._

            "Did Pisces kill you?" Mu asked aloud, knowing the answer already, and knowing that Albiore was too far away to hear him now. As the truth dawned on him, a crystal tear trickled down Mu’s pale cheek. He stood motionless for a long time, until Kiki’s sleepy voice brought him back to reality.

            “Master Mu, has our guest left?”

            Mu only nodded without turning.

            “So early?”

            “He must go a long way,” Mu said, his voice shook a little.

            “Are you crying, Master Mu?” the child asked innocently.

            When Mu finally turned to face his pupil, his eyes were dry, and he was smiling, although the smile was still tinged with sadness.

            “Kiki,” he said solemnly, “You have always wanted to see Sanctuary, haven’t you?”

            “Of course!” the child looked at his master in disbelief. “Will we go there?”

            “I suppose we must,” Mu replied, tying his long hair in quick movements so that it would not spill everywhere. “Now that someone has declared herself as Athena, I must be ready at Sanctuary. I am, after all, one of Athena’s Saints.”

            Kiki joyously bolted to the main room. “I will prepare our things, Master Mu!”

            Mu stayed behind. The Bronze Saints would certainly go to Sanctuary to help Athena claim her throne. He must lend them his hand.

            Shiryu, for sure, and also Shun, Albiore’s apprentice.

            “That’s the least thing I can do for you, Albiore,” Mu whispered, “I have an intuition that your apprentice will avenge your death. It would be as good as if you yourself dealt the final blow.”

            With that, Mu left Jamir, never to return.

_To be continued..._

**Author's Note:**

> Many thanks to Silverr for having proofread my first fanfiction of my favourite Gold and Silver Saints, and improved (among other things) the English, which is not my mother tongue. Silverr is the best St. Seiya fanfic author I have known so far.


End file.
